Tournament Tactics
Interesting tactical position from a tournament game. Black has options - which move is best?
Kingside Attack in the Semi-Slav
Check out this clean win with a kingside attack against the Semi-Slav. Things I liked about this game: 12.Ne5 being aggressive 25.Rde1 refusing the trade, keeping the position complicated while my opponent was under time pressure 28.f5 not pla...
2016 US Championship Contenders Announced!!
http://www.uschesschamps.com/2016-us-championship/player-bios Very excited that the contenders for the 2016 US Chess Championship in St Louis have been announced! Although I'd be happy to see either Nakamura or Caruna win (which is likely consid...
Rook Sac Fun in Tournaments
Please enjoy these rook sacrifices from some of my recent tournament games! While playing with the black pieces against Ishaan Puri in the 2nd round of the Washington State Class Championship (class B), I had the pleasure of sacrificing not 1 but...
Chess 960 Tournament - Fischer Random Chess
Tired of memorizing opening lines and in need of something new? Then Chess 960 - Fischer Random Chess is definitely right for you! Join this fun 10-player tournament and we'll start in a day or 2: http://www.chess.com/tournament/chess-960-tournam...
Sinquefield Cup 2014 - Magnus Carlsen vs Levon Aronian
Check out this very interesting rook endgame where Carlsen is up 3 pawns but Aronian manages to draw by coordinating his king and rook and harassing the white king.
2015 Friday Night Round 2
World Champion Magnus Carlsen Crushed By Radoslaw Wojtaszek - Tata Steel 2015
Watch the world #1-rated chess player and world chamption Magnus Carlsen get defeated by world #15 Polish champion Radoslaw Wojtaszek at the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee.
South African IM Beats Gata Kamsky with Black in World Chess Olympiad
This game shows some really nice technique by the relatively young IM from South Africa, Henry Steel. Kamsky put up quite a fight, but in the end he was forced into resignation; the computer recommends 88...Kd4 and gives an evaluation of about -9....
Open Sicilian Question
In positions similar to the one shown, which bishop is better for white - light or dark? I play these positions for black, so really what I'm asking is which bishop should black try to capture - the light-squared bishop or the dark-squared one?...
ChessNetwork's Benoni Lesson
First of all, I want to thank Chess Network for being an awesome chess coach and an extremely entertaning competitor! I really appreciate all of the work he does posting videos and puzzles - he really makes learning chess fun! It's especially nice...
Super Grandmaster Tactics
This is from an interesting game that is currently still being played in the 2013 World Cup. It looks like Morozevich will win now, but he was completely lost after 35. Qb4. Can you find the tactic that his opponent, Rafael Leitao, missed?
Maroczy Bind
This was round 3 of one of the Austin Chess Club's swiss tournaments. I was playing with 1 point in the U1800 section. This game was very fun to play and after I analyzed it I feel like I learned a lot. This is also the highest rated player I've b...
Smith-Morra Refutation
This is the highest rated opponent I've beaten so far. I was very happy with my performance in this game overall, even though I didn't do very well in the opening and made several inaccuracies throughout the game. Enjoy!
Crazy Game
This game was a lot of fun to play. It's from round 2 of Austin Chess Club's "Generic 2013 Swiss #1" and the first round that I played (took a 1/2-point bye in round 1). I was playing an opponent rated about 40 points higher than me, and someone w...
Lucky Round 3 Checkmate
This game was from round 3 of the 3rd Annual Austin Chess Club Championship in Austin, Texas. I was playing in the Novice section (<1400) and ended up winning all 5 games to win clear first and $250. This was my most difficult game, and as you'...
Solid Win
This was round 4 of the Austin Chess Club's End of Mayan Calendar Swiss 2012, time control G90/60. Although my opponent was 24 points lower rated, I felt that I played very solid, positional chess. Enjoy the game, and as usual, thank you in advanc...
Final Round Excitement
Round 4 was the final tournament of the Austin Chess Club's September Swiss, and I was playing for 1st place of the Booster section (<1400). It was currently tied for 2nd place with 2.0 points, my opponent in the clear lead with 3.0 points, so ...
ACC September Swiss Round 3
Despite a few critical mistakes I made in this game, I was happy with my performance overall and pleased with the win.
ACC September Swiss Rd 2
This game was very disappointing because despite having a winning position and being up material, I blundered in the endgame, losing my Rook. Still, I believe that before move 35 I played well, and so I'm not too upset about the loss. Enjoy the ga...
Tactics 031312
This tactical opportunity arose for me in a recent 10-minute blitz game where I was playing White. Black just blundered with 28...Qxd5??. See if you can find the correct response for White. Incidentally I didn't find it and ended up resigning afte...
Forced Mate 021212
Although I missed the forced mate in this 10 minute blitz game, my opponent blundered and he was checkmated in a few moves. Enjoy!
Austin Club Championship 2012 Round 1
I have mixed feelings regarding this game. On one hand, I consistently outplayed my opponent, who was rated over 300 points higher than me, and got a winning position. On the other hand, I was unable to find the win in a seemingly unclear position...
Southwest Open Round 4
Although I was generally pleased with my opening and middlegame play in this game (aside from a couple of decisive mistakes), my opponent demonstrated his superior endgame skill and I eventually resigned.
Forced Mate 121611
This position arose recently in a 15/10 quick game where I was playing White. Unfortunately in the game I missed this forced mate and ended up blundering in time trouble and getting mated. Enjoy!
